At The Beginning
by Terraox
Summary: A New Beginning, but with not only the original cast, but the desire and need for Oc's/Fc's. Excepting and wanting. First chapter is forum. OPEN.
1. Chapter 1

**Name:**

**Nickname:**

**Gender:**

**Age: (Opt. Since in the game no one knows their ages! I assume all marriageable candidates are in there 20's?)**

**Birthday:**

**Race: (Opt. Well this is Harvest Moon so I'll accept non-human Oc's. You can not be a goddess however.)**

**Appearance: (Hair color, eye color, hair style, body style, skin tone, etc.)**

**Regular Attire: (What ever they usually were around town. Can be in game outfit, just tell me the name. You can add accessories to an already existing outfit, like a bow or hat.)**

**Personality: (The more detailed the better I write!)**

**Family: (Opt. You can be related to existing characters.)**

**Pets: (Cows, horses, cats, monkeys! Just has to be a real animal. If farmer add animals here. Include present and future animals.)**

**Bio: (Opt. Basically a small life story is needed if your Oc comes from somewhere else.)**

**Hobbies: (Opt.)**

**Item preferences: (Include Special, Loved, Liked, Disliked, Hated, and Horror. By default everything is neutral.**

**Habits: (Opt. The good and the bad)**

**Abilities: (Opt.)**

**Occupation: (I will allow for you create a job and add buildings if wanted.)**

**Unlocked: (Building that has them come to Echo Village, unless they already lived there.)**

**Strengths: (Opt. I'm running out of ides.)**

**Weaknesses/ Fears: (Opt)**

**Formal attire: (Opt. You know for formal things. I have an idea in mind.)**

**Swimming attire: (Opt. Only if your Oc like swimming)**

**Sleeping attire:**

**Crush: (Opt. The long awaited question! Remember first come first served! DO NOT KILL ME IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR CRUSH! You can make an Oc crush.)**

**Friends: (Got to have friends!)**

**Rivals: (People you don't like.)**

**Heart Events: (Cute scenes between you and your crush, you don't have to have any now, but PM me when you do. That would be swell. Also yes you will have regular heart events with the crush. You can have up to 7, one for each color. Commitment ring and proposals don't count.)**

**Events: (With friends or foes. You can come up with as many you want.)**

**Extra: (What do you want to add about your Oc? It can be anything you want!)**

**Rules.**

**No Mary-Sue's, no exceptions.**

**Be realistic, unless your oc is a farmer, pet shop owner, or zoo keeper you can't own a million animals.**

**No complaining about not getting your crush, my rules is first come first served.**

**Be nice. I don't want to hear about you bullying other participants. I will give you 3 warning, then kick you.**

**HAVE FUN! Give me ideas, think of events, make me guy Oc's!…since how many men play harvest moon? (No offense men.) But yes, if you have any ideas share it! I'll give you credit of course.**

**If I do something wrong with your Oc, please correct me in a polite manner. I won't snap back but, fix mistake, apologize, and thank you for your assistance.**

**Do the same with other characters, I don't want to be OOC!**

**That's about it. Chapter one will be up soon, also if you need any further help PM me or look at my Oc example.**

**Available character's**

**Boy's- Neil, Allen, Rod, Amir, Soseki, or Henry. (I'm sorry but I love Sanjay to much….. don't hurt me. Guy deserves love.)**

**Girls- Yuri, Witch Princess, Iroha, Felicity, Tina, Michelle, or Rachel **


	2. Chapter 2

**A New Beginning**

**A heroine and hero appear!**

Echo Village. This settlement, surrounded by mountains, was once home to many people and full of life. However, that golden age is but a memory… This town is now the destination of capable youngsters, each coming in on there own time to help restore the town. Each with a heart full of determination and spirit. In the midst of a forest a young woman walked, admiring the beauty of nature all around her. Staring at a stump she quickly adjusted her cow girl hat as she looked up at the bright spring sun. Today was a hot, but gorgeous day, and with the wind breezing through, today was a great day for a fresh start. Whilst the blonde girl in overall's look around, and elderly man in a cow-boy hat faintly walked by the forest.

"Uhhh…help!" He called out fainting to the ground.

"Rachel, Rachel! This is terrible! You need to help this person on the ground!" A squeaky voice called out as the girl, Rachel looked around to find out who it was. "Don't worry about who I am! Quickly help him!" The voice shouted as the flustered girl quickly ran over to the elderly man.

"Water, oh yeah water. That's what he needs!" Rachelle shouted at herself as she quickly ran over to a near by river and scooped some up for the man.

"Uhh…wh-where am I?" The man asked as he came to. He slowly got up and looked around, confused. "What…happened to me?" He asked.

"You just walked out and I saw you fall over. Are you okay?" Rachel asked full of concern. He had just fainted.

"Ah now I remember. I was searching for some food and collapsed due to the heat." The old man muttered with a nod. "It looks like I have you to thank for saving me. I appreciate it." He thanked giving his own cowboy hat an adjustment. "I can't say I've ever seen you in these parts, though. I hope you don't take offense if I've gotten this wrong, but are you Rachel?" The man asked.

"Why yes, yes I am." Rachel answered with a small smile. "My parents told me about you, you're Dunhill? Right?" Rachel asked.

"Why yes I am." Dunhill responded, pleased that her parents had not forgotten to mention him. "And do you remember my grandson's name?" Dunhill asked.

"I'm sorry no, I didn't know you had a grandson." Rachel responded.

"Agh that's fine. He's about your age, where is the boy. Henry! Henry!" Dunhill called out.

"Yeah grandpa?" A male's voice called out. The voice belonged to a young brunette boy wearing a blue hat, walking down the mountain trail.

"Henry you remember Rachel don't you? You used to be two pea's in a pod when you were little." Dunhill sighed at the memory of their youth.

"Sorry grandpa, but it's been a long time, I don't remember." Henry responded scratching the back of his head.

"Agh to bad. But Rachel, there's such a strong family resemblance. Your mom's blue eyes, your dad's blonde hair! How are the two?" Dunhill asked.

"Doing fine." Rachel responded with a smile.

"Glad to hear. Believe it or not I looked a lot like Henry back in my youth." Dunhill said chuckling as Henry grinned.

"It's true!" Henry grinned nodding his head. In that moment Rachel took the time to study the boy. Brunette hair, brown eyes, and an outfit similar to hers. White shirt, overall's, except Henry had a brown jacket on and red scarf. Rachel had no jacket, and she wore an ascot.

"Well then, let's get down to business." Dunhill said as he cleared his throat. "Your parents are giving you you're proper ancestral land as a coming of your coming of age." Dunhill spoke, but oddly enough this seemed to anger Henry.

"That's right, and I plan to work hard on it!" Rachel spoke clearly, ignoring Henry's growing anger. Though truly, Rachel was a bit concerned about the work. She had always been a bit lazy at home, and she knew working on a farm would be tough. But how tough?

"Well I'm glad finally someone has come along to care for the farm land!" Dunhill cheered laughing, this seemed to completely enrage Henry. "Well enough chit- chat out here, let me treat you too a meal and then I'll show you to your knew land." Dunhill smiled as he led him and Rachel off to his house. Henry lagged behind, though still his anger strangely was still steadily rising. But why?

**HAHAHA! I didn't think I'd get this out on the first day, but woop! I did it. Well meet Rachel and Henry, the 'main' hero's of the story. I decided to make Henry Dunhill's grandson since it made things more interesting and well….possibly future plans, but we'll see. I'm also going to eventually write out a forum for the two soon so don't worry. Also no Oc's for a little bit, I apologize but they'll get here soon. Special thanks to Peanut-Bata for sending in her Oc, Kite, and Crazy-Pairing-Girl, Tara . Seriosuly I was stoked to see your Oc's! This also means that Allen and Neil are now taked, and forever taken, unless those two break my rules. Which none have been broken, nor do I expect them too. Anyways, it seems I wasn't clear on a few things (my fault, not mad.)**

**Think of events as….requests. Things you want to happen to your Oc. Idea's and such. Events or completely optional and I'll probably think of something for your Oc as well. HEART EVENTS on the other hand are not optional, but YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE THEM COMPLETE YET (this is used to emphasize, not yell ****) It's the beginning. If you have one you want to do fine, but in time I will need a minimum of 4. Black, purple, green, and yellow. I allow up to 7. BUT, if you have an idea for an event between you and your crush, then by all means lay it on me. I'll just count it as an event and all is dandy! Anyway, super excited for working with you guys! And one last thank you to Crazy-Pairing-Girl, for giving me an idea on how to fit out Rachel's personality. It really makes things more interesting!**

**Amara- Hmph, I don't come until renovation plan #3, that's going to take to long!**

**Shush up Ami. You'll come soon.**

**Rachel- How hard is farm work?  
**

**Tara- If you actually tried, you'd get used to it.**

**Henry- *grumbles about cliff hanger***

**Kite- Well ughh…please R&R.**

**And submit your Oc too!**

**Also about male Oc's, you don't have to submit one, but if you have one then it just would be nice. I suspect I won't get to many males. I'm actually making a brother for Amara, so yeah.**

**Amara-Since when do I have a brother?!**

**Since now.**

**Available people.**

**Boy's- Rod, Amir, Soseki, or Henry. (I knew Neil would be first to go. Just knew it.)**

**Girls- Yuri, Witch Princess, Iroha, Felicity, Tina, Michelle, or Rachel. (*Cricket chirps* Yeah.) **

**Anyways see you next week! (Or when I put the next chapter up….presumably Thursday or sooner.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A New Beginning**

**A promise once made**

Despite Dunhill's attempts to lighten the mood, there was a sure tension between him in Henry. The meal did taste good, but it was hard to focus on just food with whirlwind of emotion going on. I didn't help that Dunhill had given up conversation and Henry seemed to be in no mood for talking. After what seemed like a decade Dunhill ended the meal and ushered Rachel back outside. Henry followed close behind.

"I'll show you around the town tomorrow. For today, let's go and look at your new farm. This way now." Dunhill said as he led the two on ahead.

"Great I can't wait to see my new land!" Rachel cheered as she excitedly followed Dunhill. Sadly the three only got ahead a few feet until Dunhill stopped. Ahead were four people, a big man, a boy resembling him probably his son, an elderly woman, and another woman.

"Well thanks for everything." The man thanked, though there was a touch of sadness in his voice.

"Hossan. You really are leaving town?" The brunette woman in a blue bandana asked sadly.

"Everyone has been so good to us," Hossan started off wiping away tears, "but there's no point in an inn with no one coming to stay."

"Yes… you're right of course." The elderly woman answered sadly.

"We're going to try running an inn in another town." Hossan reminded trying to perk up the mood. "Niko and I are going to try are hardest ate the new inn."

"That's right dad!" Niko echoed happily.

"I understand. But please say you'll come back eventually? We'll be here waiting for you!" The old woman asked giving off a small smile.

"This is our home town! Of course we'll return!" Hossan assured returning the elderly woman's smile. "Now I'm afraid it's time for us to go." Hossan uttered sadly.

"We'll walk with you to the exit, this will be only a good bye for now. Not forever." The younger woman assured beginning to smile.

"Good idea." The old woman agreed.

"Well the ladies, shall we be off?" Hossan asked as he, the other three, and his horse cart left for the village exit. Both Henry and Dunhill stayed eerily quite during the event, after watching the group of four go Rachel finally lost her patience and had to ask what was going on.

"Dunhill, why did those people leave?" Rachel blurted out.

"People have been leaving to try and find better business, Echo village has lost a lot of residents." Henry muttered sadly.

"The falling number of people means there's no work, and that drives more people away. A vicious circle." Dunhill hissed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that." Rachel apologized, it was indeed a sad thing.

"Sorry for stopping so long, no need to worry about this now. Let's go to your farm!" Dunhill optimistically called out as he walked ahead. Rachel followed close behind, while Henry took up the rear. The trio finally entered the farmland, it looked unused but not un-kept. Why, even some turnips were growing out of the ground!

"Here we are Rachel, the land you decided to take on!" Dunhill announced.

"Wow it's a lot bigger then I expected." Rachel commented as she walked ahead looking around. "Who planted these?" Rachel asked pointing at the turnips, she was honestly just curious. It meant less work for her.

"I did, and grandpa that's what I wanted to talk to you and Rachel about." Henry answered clearing his throat. "Grandpa, you promised me the land is she didn't take it!"

"Boy I know this, but here she is. This land belongs to her family, and is to be owned by her." Dunhill hissed back.

"Grandpa, she has no idea how to farm! I do, I can bring Echo Village back to it's glory, just give me full ownership and…"

"Hey!" Rachel interrupted glaring at Henry. "This land belonged to my father, and is now mine. I'll be the one to bring it back up!"

"You're father abandoned this land!" Henry roared back. "I've been the one taking care of it, grandpa too!"

"Well you honestly haven't been doing a good job." Rachel scoffed. "This place could use a lot of sprucing up."

"Why you little-"

"ENOUGH!" Dunhill barked, silencing the arguing duo. "If you two are going to act like children, then you will be treated like so." Dunhill quickly thought up of the perfect solution. "I did promise Henry the land if your father didn't send anyway. It so happens he sends his daughter, so as a compromise you two will share the land."

"I'm not sharing with him."

"I'm not sharing with her either."

"Well it's either share the land, or neither of you get the land." Dunhill said gravely.

"I guess I could make a second bed for the house." Henry muttered unhappily.

"And it would lighten the work load." Rachel agreed.

"Fine." They said unanimously.

"Good to hear!" Dunhill laughed as the two farmers grudgingly shook each other's hands. This were going to be one heck of a rollercoaster, Dunhill just knew it.

**That night**

Henry had moved his new bed into the farm house while Rachel wrote in her diary. Night had fallen and the two were both fairly tired for the day.

"Hey if you need anything just ask me." Henry reminded her as he walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah yeah." Rachel answered not listening, as she closed her diary and tucked it under her pillow. "Henry what are you doing!" Rachel yelled out as Henry had previously been trying to prepare a meal.

"Making us dinner." Henry replied, a bit annoyed.

"Oof, you're ruining the mint, let me do it." Rachel promptly pushed the boy out of her way as she began busying herself in the kitchen. "This is how you cook!" After 10 minutes of Rachel running around the kitchen, most of it unneeded but to show off, the meal was ready.

"Wow it actually smells edible." Henry complimented, as his stomach growled.

"Hey! Well here try some!" Rachel said placing the bowl in front of him. "I'll have you know that I actually do acquire useful skills in the kitchen."

"It tshates reshlly goodsh." Henry praised with his mouthful. Satisfied, Rachel sat down and ate her own meal. After the dishes had been done and the two were absolutely exhausted, Rachel climbed into her bed on the left side, and Henry into his on the right.

"Say Rachel, shouldn't we get into night clothes?" Henry asked.

"No." Rachel groaned shutting her eyes. "To tired. Just wanna sleep."

"All right. Oh ugh, hey after grandpa said we were friends did you start to remember some of the things we did, you know, back then?" Henry asked.

"Yeah I did." Rachel replied yawning.

"Do you remember the time we made the pact?" Henry asked, slightly blushing.

"Yeah." Rachel answered turning over and opening her eyes. It had been so long since she'd though about that.

"Do you…remember the promise?" Henry asked feeling him beginning to heat.

"No." Rachel quickly lied. "Sorry I don't."

"Well me neither, I just wanted to see if you did." Henry also lied. For awhile after the to just lied there, refusing to look at one another. After what felt like a decade of silence Henry finally found words to say. "Well good night." Henry muttered.

"Night." Rachel responded. Of course they remembered there pact, there promise, but it was just a child's promise. It couldn't mean anything now, could it?

**Well it is currently 1 a.m. and I should really get some sleep. Hope you liked my update, this will be a short note. I'm kind of tired.**

**Amara-GO HOME TERRA YOU'RE DRUNK!**

**Yeah yeah. Anyways special thanks to Harvestmoonlovee for submitting her Oc, Naminé. Also special thanks to ChaoticFluffball and Anonymousgirl88 for watching the story. Means a lot ****. Ok I seriously should get to bed.**

**Available people.**

**Boys- Amir, Soeski, and Henry.**

**Girls- All of them and Rachel.**

**Also I have a proposition for you guys. Would you like if I paired up Henry and Rachel together? I mean, they have a past I can work with, but I want to hear your opinions. Well good night.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A New Beginning**

**Dreams of the past**

_It was a forest, green and lush. Birds chirped, bugs flew by, and forest animals began preparing for the on-coming summer. Spring had passed, and the world was only going to get hotter. Two children pranced through the forest, their screams of pure delight terrifying all the animals to scamper out of sight._

"_Come on Henry, you're so slow!" The girl cried out as she ran ahead. Henry ran as fast as a young boy's legs could carry him._

"_Stop running so fast Rachel!" The boy cried out. The girl only laughed at her friend's distress. She kept sprinting ahead, until finally the two young children came up to the south side of town. "Rachel, Grandpa said we weren't allowed in this part of town," Henry muttered, fearing what his grandpa might do._

"_Oh come on, this is my dad's land. Here, let me show you." The girl grabbed the boys hand and the two ran off south into the unknown territory of the farm. "See, one day, I'm going to own all of this Henry!" Rachel expressed as she spread her hands in emphasis._

"_How come your dad doesn't take care of it?" Henry asked._

"_Because he loves Mama," Rachel answered simply. "Hey Henry, can I ask you a question now?" Rachel asked softly._

"_Sure, what is it?"_

"_How come I've never met your parents?" Rachel suddenly blurted out. The question had been bothering her ever since she met both Ray's and Neil's parents, but never Henry's._

"_Well, my dad died when my mom was pregnant with me, and my mom died when giving birth to me," Henry answer, looking down and swiping a tear from his eye. "But now I live with Grandpa, and he said he's going to raise me into a fine young man!" Henry assured. Rachel couldn't help but stare, how could she not have known this?_

"_I'm really sorry Henry," Rachel whispered as she wrapped her small arms around the boy. "They're in a better place now."_

"_That's what grandpa says," Henry sniffed._

"_You know what? I have an idea!" Rachel called out as she released her friend. "Let's make a pact, from this day on I, Rachel Blue, will be Henry Marcus's honorary sister!" Rachel yelled out. "From this day on we'll be blood siblings, what do you say?" Rachel asked, her hand outstretched._

"_Ok, but don't we have to prick our hands for a blood pact?" Henry asked with a small sense of fear in his voice._

"_True. Okay so we'll make it a pinky promise," Rachel concluded outstretching her pinky finger to knot it with Henry's._

"_And what do we do now?" Henry asked._

"_I'll visit you every summer, and we can share the land when you become mayor, and we'll always have each others back!" Rachel told him with a nod._

"_Rachel! Henry! Didn't Dunhill tell you this part of land was forbidden?" A voice pierced from overhead._

"_Run Henry!" Rachel squealed as they sprinted off to avoid trouble. Though, despite the promise they had made, it proved to be much harder to keep. That was the last summer Rachel ever visited the farm, her father had planned to give it Dunhill, unless Rachel showed interest in it. Rachel and Henry forgot the promise, and, for awhile, each other. The pact had been broken, but now it was time for it to be restored._

* * *

**Meet the town**

"Rachel, wake up," A male's voice called off in the semi-dreamlike state Rachel was currently in. "Rachel, farmers are supposed to wake up at six," The voice reminded her.

"What time is it?" Rachel slurred.

"Seven," Henry answered as the girl's blue eyes shot open.

"What!? Why didn't you wake me up sooner!?" Rachel yelled out as she quickly leaped out of bed and began shoveling down a pre-made breakfast.

"I tried to," Henry barked back, "But you wouldn't wake up." With that Rachel finished her fast paced breakfast and sprinted outside, bumping straight into Dunhill.

"Good morning," Dunhill greeted, helping the blonde back up. "Did you oversleep?"

"Yeah, quick, ughh... I need to..." Rachel's eyes darted to the field, but there were no more turnips there.

"I picked them this morning. I was thinking we could introduce you to everyone then I can teach you how to run this place," Henry's voice came from directly behind Rachel, almost scaring her. "Oh, and Grandpa likes to deliver letters and the town's newspaper, so if you have one written, just give it to him."

"O-okay," Rachel stuttered.

"Well, I'm going to show Rachel around now Grandpa, see you later!" Henry waved off as he began leading the dazed girl North into town.

"Alright, have fun you two!" Dunhill called after them. Ahead were three buildings, two right next to each other and one closer to the river. In front of the closest two building stood the two women from yesterday.

"Oh, good morning Henry," The younger, Emma, greeted with a smile.

"Morning Emma, morning Hana," Henry greeted with a smile.

"Oh Henry, is this Rachel?" Hana asked.

"You got it," Henry answered.

"Oh it's been so long," Hana sighed at the memories. "I'm glad you've come back, and you better not cause any trouble Missy."

"No way, ma'am," Rachel unconsciously responded, exactly as she had whenever Hana asked her if she had done something wrong as a child. This seemed to humor the elderly woman, since she and Emma let out a small laugh.

"Well anyways, Hana runs the General Store. Later on today we'll be buying seeds from her. Emma here," Henry then gestured towards her, "works in shipping. She'll be shipping our products once we start farming," Henry introduced.

"It's a pleasure to see you again," Emma greeted happily. "I've already shipped out the crops you gave me Henry. I'll give you your pay tomorrow."

"Thank you," Henry nodded. "Oh have you two seen the Wendell's?"  
"I know Iris, James, and Maya went out fishing. I think Ray is in the shop though," Hana answered.

"Thank you, come on Rachel, let's go see Rei." Henry led the two off as the headed towards the third shop.

* * *

**Ray**

Rachel and Henry said good bye to Emma and Hana and walked over to a nearby cottage decorated with painted fish and wooden life preservers.

"You might remember Ray and his family from when you were younger," Henry stated to Rachel.

"Ray..." Rachel thought aloud, signaling that she remembered the name, but not much else. The only thing that came to her with the name was a pair of sharp blue eyes.  
Henry opened the door causing the bell above it to jingle. He led Rachel inside and she saw a vaguely familiar-looking fishery. A foggy memory came to her. _Rachel grabbed one of the carp off of the display and jumped in front of the young boy, waving it in his face. He screeched and backed away as she started chasing him around the shop with it. "Rachel stop! That's not funny!" squealed the boy. "Yes it is!" Rachel replied in between a fit of giggles. Tears swelled in the boy's eyes as she cornered him, wielding the fish as a very floppy sword. "Oh, come on, Ray, it was just a game."_

Rachel came back into reality once she heard Henry introduce her. In front of Rachel stood a tall boy with messy black hair and those unforgettable eyes, sporting dark blue jeans and a black jacket.

Henry turned towards Rachel, and gesturing to the boy said, "Rachel, I'm sure you remember Ray?"

Rachel was about to open her mouth to reply when Ray spoke up. "Wait Rachel, Rachel... Ah, Rachel! You were that trouble-maker who was always way too stubborn!" Ray pointed out, beginning to remember his few encounters with the girl.

"Yeah, that's me, though I've grown up a lot since then." Rachel quickly replied.

"No, you still seem stubborn, and like you'll cause a lot of trouble." Ray said smiling.

"Oh no..." Henry muttered.

"What did you just say?" Rachel dared.

"I said: you still seem like a stubborn trouble-maker." Ray answered happily, unknowing of the rage he had just awoken in the girl.

* * *

_**First off if anyone got a message from my second head, that's normal. I have indeed grown a second head, well actually now sharing the site with a fellow writer name ktgg. This will insist on possibly faster updates, and a more diverse story. Kt is also a good friend and HUGE Harvest Moon fan, so she has a lot of useable knowledge that I will need. Anyway to ensure there is no confusion, if a message is signed Kt, it's her, and Megan will be me. Anyways enjoy our now combined chapter!**_

**Hello from the second head! Because Megan unknowingly stole my idea we've come to the decision of writing this mofo together! (Insert applause here) I don't have much to add besides how awesome this is gonna be! I hope you'll like it even more now! Yayyy!**

**Secondly, YEAH FIRST OC INTRO! We have three new Oc's Ray, owned by MirrorMagicMia, and Katie and Danny by Ktgg. Thank you all for your R and R's and Oc's!**

**Also because someone has asked for Henry, there will not be them pairing in THIS ff. Though I may on the side do a small fic for them. Maybe.**

**Available**

**Boy's- Amir, and Soseki.**

**Girls- Iroha, Felicity, Michelle, or Rachel. (WOO GIRLS HAVE BEEN TAKEN YEAH!) **

_**~Megan**_

**-KT**


	5. Chapter 5

**Diclaimer: we don't own none of this Harvest Moon shtuff!**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

Ray was lucky that Henry had the brains and quick reflexes to prevent Rachel from outright murdering him, though the poor boy was still fairly shaken by the initial lunge, and throttle, that Rachel had attempted to pull on him. Poor Ray was known for starting off on the wrong foot when it came to new people, still, this was fairly extreme.

"Take it back!" Rachel screeched as she tried to release herself from Henry's grasp. "You better take it back!"

"Rachel calm down!" Henry tried to calm her down, but his efforts proved to be hopeless. The girl must have been out for blood! "Rei, you might want to apologize."

"Why? I was only telling the truth," Ray questioned. He was honestly confused. His entire life Ray was told that telling the truth would bring him good, and this wasn't exactly good.

"Ray please, she's stronger then she looks." Henry growled as he felt Rachel beginning to break way.

"But why do I have to apologize?" Ray asked innocently. "If anything, she should apologize to me for not being able to control her bad temper." That was the final straw.

"Oh no..." Henry muttered for the second time that day. Rachel, in a fit of complete rage, broke out off Henry's hold, grabbed a rather large mackerel, and charged again at the boy. Now Ray was completely frightened. As he dodged Rachel's assault the black haired boy couldn't help but let out a few yelps in fear.

"Oh, that's right, I remember now," Rachel remarked smirking sinisterly. "You're afraid of fish."

"S-so?" Ray stuttered, cowering against a wall. Rachel cackled evilly in response as she slowly inched closer to the cowering blue-eyed boy.

"Oh it just means that this going to be easy. Easier than shooting a fish in a barrel!" Rachel laughed.

"Does she even hear herself right now?" Henry muttered with a sigh.

Rachel raised the fish above her head, ready to strike the final blow against Ray, who then squeezed his eyes shut. Just as she began to bring the mackerel down on his head the door opened, catching her attention and causing her strike to miss its ultimate target. Ray shuddered as the fish skimmed against his arm, then, cracking his eyes open, breathed a sigh of relief. James, Iris, and Maya had just returned home and Ray was saved by the bell. Literally.

"Ray we're home!" James yelled out walking in with the rest of his family trailing behind. "Now, uh, what's going on?" It certainly was a strange sight for one to walk into their home and find their son being nearly hit with a fish. That doesn't happen every day.

"Oh, hi James!" Henry greeted nervously, this was going to be fun to explain. "I was just showing the new resident, Rachel, around."

"Rachel! Why you used to play with Ray when you were little!" James laughed.  
"Nice to see you two playing again, just like when you were kids!" With that, James entered another room deeper into the shop to clean up the days catch. Iris, on the other hand, went over picking up Rachel's mackerel.

"The boy doesn't mean any harm, mackerel's are oceanic fish," she muttered softly, leaving to the same room James just went into.

Rachel stood there for a second, confused, until Henry quietly said, "Iris is a bit on the strange side, but she's good-hearted."

Just then, a young girl who looked about 14 walked up to Rachel. "So you're Ray's old friend. I didn't think you would be pretty," she said looking up at her.

"I don't know whether to be offended or grateful," Rachel said, note of the still-present anger in her voice.

"I'm Maya," the girl said. "If you never need advice on how to fish then I'm your girl. Fishing is my specialty!" she said with a proud smile.

"Um, hi. I'm Rachel. And thanks...I guess..." Rachel replied hesitantly.

After promising Maya that the duo would return for fishing tips, and an awkward goodbye to Ray, the two farmers finally left the fishing shop.

"Well that certainly was an experience," Henry muttered, leading Rachel back to Hana's shop for the promised seeds. "Right now Hana will sell us turnip, potato, and marguerite seeds. If we keep selling crops though, she will purchase more of a variety of seeds," Henry explained as they entered the shop. "Each packet of seeds holds enough for four plants."

"Oh, hello Henry, hello Rachel!" Hana greeted with a smile. "How was your trip to Ray's?"

"It was, quite the experience," Henry answered un-surely, adjusting his hat.

"That's one way to put it," Rachel muttered under her breath.

"What was that young lady?" Hana asked her.

"Never mind ma'am," Rachel answered half-heartedly.

"Well how can I help you kids?" Hana asked them.

"We'll be buying some seeds. We'll take one of each type of seed you have," Henry replied to her.

"One turnip seeds, one potato seeds, and one marguerite seeds. That's 740 G please." Henry handed her the money and, after thanking the woman, the two started off towards the farm.

"Farming takes a lot of patience and hard work, but can be very prosperous in the end," Henry explained as he began motioning Rachel towards the field. "Hoes are used for tilling the fields," Henry then demonstrated as he lifted the hoe high above his head and then brought it down, creating a place to sow seeds in the field. "It takes a bit of strength and can tire you out at first, but you'll get used to it. Now as I said each packet of seeds is enough for four plants," Henry then tilled three more area's of the field. "Then you lay the seeds," Henry demonstrated spreading the seeds on the four areas of land, "and water." Lastly, he brought out his watering can and watered the plants. "Your turn Rachel," Henry smiled handing the girl the hoe.

She held it in her hand as if she was weighing it. "I can do this easy," she said. Rachel lifted the hoe above her head and when she brought her hands down they were empty. A crash was heard and the girl cringed and turned around. The tool had slipped out of her grasp and put a hole in the front wall of the house.

"You didn't..." Henry muttered, his mouth agape in shock.

"Oops," Rachel said, embarrassment evident in her expression.

The too slowly craned there heads at the now hole into the house.

"Well this is unbelievable," Henry sighed.

"Sorry," Rachel apologized. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Maybe there is," Henry thought out loud. "The farm has a studio attached to it. We can make a few simple items, like fixing the wall and beds. Though for now those are the only blueprints I own, but it'll do for now." With that Henry led Rachel to the side of the house towards the studio.

"Why didn't I notice this before?" Rachel wondered aloud.

"Okay well here's the blueprint for simple fix-ups," Henry said pulling out a sheet of paper. "We just need a few small lumber for the hole. I think you should fix it, Rachel. It could be a good learning opportunity, and, after all, this is your fault," he finished, gesturing to the hole.

"Okay...but I've never really done this kind of stuff before," Rachel replied.

"Do your best," Henry said, handing her a small box of nails. "I'll go grab the lumber," he simply said heading off to the small lumber shed in the corner of the farmland.

"Ok Rachel you can figure this out!" She coached herself reading over the instructions and having the small pile of wood that was already there. "Ok, I have no idea what I'm doing," Rachel muttered out loud. "This is to confusing, how can anyone build anything from this. Well I better at least try or else Henry will get mad." With that Rachel began sawing, measuring, and building trying her best to follow all the instructions.

"Hey Rachel I brought the woo-" Henry paused in absolute shock, dropping his wood pile, Rachel was holding a nearly perfect replica of the wood.

"Haha! That was easier then I thought!" Rachel boasted handing Henry the hoe.

She placed the piece of wood in the hole and used some of the wood Henry had brought and nailed it in. "Ha! I am the best carpenter on the farm!" she beamed.

"Beginner's luck," Henry muttered. "Well your skills should come in handy for our work, hopefully," he told her.

"So you take care of the farm stuff and I do the cooking and building," Rachel stated.

"Not a chance," Henry said blandly.

"Yah, I know," Rachel replied.

"So let's get back to work on those fields," Henry said happily.

"All right, it's not like I can put two holes in the house," Rachel laughed as she picked up the hoe and headed back to the field. For a moment Henry just stood there, wondering. The work went by much smoother, and Rachel didn't make a second hole, though she did nearly break Henry's foot. After the sun began to set, the main fields had been planted and watered.

"Phew, good work today Rachel," Henry pronounced swiping sweat off his brow.

"Hey what about the fields by the barn?" Rachel asked.

"We'll plant grass there when we get animals," Henry explained. "Now that we're done I guess you're free to do what you want. I'm going to the forest to scavenge for some plants. Don't do anything stupid," Henry warned as he took his leave.

"Oh, I won't," Rachel growled heading into the house. Quickly she took out a pen and paper and began writing out a letter. "Oh Tara, I hope you like farm work," Rachel cackled as she stamped the envelope and licked it closed.

* * *

**_Omygosh, I honestly don't think it would have been possible for this to come out without Kt. Seriosuly, school has dumped me with work and I have my finals in about 2 weeks…..yay. So special thanks to Kt for being my second head, seriously thanks. Also some new Oc's woop! Thanks to all who participated and R&Red you rock! Also lastly I forgot to mention that this fic does in fact, except yaoi (boyXboy) and yuri (girlXgirl) Oc's. If anyone's against this, then I point you to the door *points*. So yeah. Also since we're runnin g out of marriage candidates, a reminder that OcXOc is also excepted. Welp that's it from me *huddles back into study hovel*_**

**_~Megan_**

**__YAY NEW CHAPPIE! Megnog and I decided to try out a new way of writing this one so I hope you guize likesh it!**

**-KT**

**Available**

**Boys- Soseki**

**Girls- Felicity **

**DOWN TO THE FINAL TWO!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: we don't own this shit blah blah blah**

* * *

**Another neighbor?**

The week was hard, but it went by relevantly fast for all of the villagers. Henry was able to teach Rachel the basics of farm work, well, to some extent at least. But thanks to the two's farm work Emma's sales began to rise and Hana now had reason to look into buying more seeds for her store. Dunhill was mighty impressed, as well as James and Maya. Despite there rocky reunion, Ray and Rachel even began to get along. Wednesday had been a rainy day, so Ray and Maya both decided to teach Rachel how to trap fish. Well, it was mostly Maya, but Ray came for the company. Henry also admitted that the week wasn't completely bad. He now half-owned the land he always wanted, was bringing in money to his grandpa's town, and maybe he was beginning to like Rachel. The two had practically been brother and sister when they were children.

Rachel, on the other hand, had other thoughts. Though she liked having land of her own, she wasn't a fan of two major things: Henry bossing her around, and the weight of the town on her shoulders. Though it was true she loved being looked up at and appreciated, she hated it when people had their expectations for her set way too high. Oh, and Henry snored.

It had been another near sleepless night for Rachel, and she was not a morning person to begin with. When the clock struck 5:30 a.m. she completely gave up and got out of bed. She quickly got herself dressed, and shot a glare at Henry. How could anyone sleep so soundly with all that damn noise! It seemed nearly impossible. With a sigh, Rachel trudged out of the house and watered her half of the field. Some of the turnips would be ready to be harvested, but she better leave that to Henry.

"At least I'll be able to sneak off and take a nap later." Rachel yawned as she looked out at her land. Truthfully she never really did explore it that much. Why not now? So Rachel simply walked off out into the depths she had not explored before. Near the edge of her land, Rachel took in a deep breathe of the morning air. Today was going to be sunny. Damn, rainy days meant less work. While looking over the water, Rachel spotted and island. It was fairly small, on it was a shack, field with a cow, and small barn. Curious on who lived on it, she slipped into one of the docked boats and rowed towards the island. it wasn't to far off so it only did take a few minutes. Once Rachel came closer she realized that the island also had a dock, and rowboat of its own.

'Does someone live here?' Rachel pondered. It would be slightly embarrassing having a neighbor so close and not noticing them for a week. Once Rachel reached the small island she docked her boat by the other one and stepped onto the boardwalk. "How ignorant am I?" she muttered to herself while observing the island. The floating farm had a barn enclosed in a fenced-in area where the cow was grazing. Next to the pen were four rows of turnip sprouts, two rows of fully grown potatoes, and a patch of marguerites. Lastly there was a small house behind the crops.

"I wonder who lives here? What kind of people live on floating farms anyway?" Rachel asked herself. "I should find out who my neighbor is, but it'd be rude to wake them," she said, smirking. With that Rachel crept towards the house and tried to peek through the cracks in the window curtain. Suddenly the curtain flew open and Rachel was staring at a curly haired girl, who was giving her quite the irritated look in return.  
"Holy Harvest Goddess!" Rachel screamed, falling back onto her butt. The girl in the window laughed at Rachel's fall.  
"Shut up!" Rachel hissed rubbing her behind, it did sting her quite a bit. The green eyed stranger quietly closed the curtains and headed outside to Rachel.  
"Are you alright?" She laughed helping Rachel up.  
"Yeah perfectly fine," Rachel answered sarcastically. "You scared the living hell out of me!"  
"Well sorry, but someone I barely know creeping up on me in the middle of the night. I think you deserved a quick scare, Rachel," The tan stranger replied smugly.  
"Well I, wait," Rachel froze, "how do you know my name?" The girl laughed at his, as if it were some hilarious joke.

"You've been living here a week, I've picked up a few things about you, Rachel Blue," the curly brunette smirked at this, her bright green eyes fully of mischievous. "Well I'm Isabella, though most people call me Issy." Rachel couldn't help but stare at this woman, she had known her full name, what else did she know?

"Nice to meet you," Rachel muttered.

"Hey, it's still early. You're a farmer, you can do the farm work, and I can cook us a nice breakfast," Issy smiled, but that hint of mischievous was still there.

Who did this girl think she was? "Don't tell me what to do!" Rachel snapped.

"Excuse me?" the woman, apparently named Issy, raised an eyebrow at her.

"Nobody tells me what to do," Rachel replied, an irritated look on her face.

"Well you sure let Henry boss you around," the brunet stated.

"I do not! Wait, how do you know that?" Rachel defensively yelled.

"So are you gonna do this farm work or not?" Issy asked, avoiding Rachel's question. "I already have the eggs on the pan so hurry up."

"I-I, fine. I'll do the damn work," Rachel mumbled, defeated. Satisfied, Issy went back inside of her home and began cooking. Rachel went about Issy's farm watering, milking, and feeding. It was small so it didn't take to much time, but still the woman Issy just bothered her. How could she know anything about her? Once done Rachel was starving and felt exhausted with all her thinking. Maybe it was for the best she just ate with Issy. Rachel quickly headed inside the home, seeing Issy happily eating and a plate waiting for Rachel.

"Are you finished?" Issy asked.

"Yeah, I finished," Rachel answered sitting down beginning to eat her fill. It wasn't bad, a bit burnt, but right now Rachel didn't feel like complaining.

"So if you're wondering how I know you, let's just say word gets around town easily. And I've seen you and Henry fight," Issy explained. Rachel's eyes widened, was she being stalked? Watching Rachel's reaction Issy could only laugh again. "It's my only way to town, besides you two are quite loud," Issy explained. "Besides, Henry's complained to me about you a few times."

"Wait, wait, wait, Henry knows you?" Rachel asked.

"Well you would hope so saying that we've been neighbors for ten years," Issy replied nonchalantly.

"And he never told me?!" Rachel yelled. "I need to have a word with him!" Rachel pushed her chair back from the table and stormed out without a thank you or goodbye. Issy smiled slightly and sipped her tea as Rachel angrily rowed the boat back to her farmland. Henry woke up from his peaceful slumber with a soft sigh.

* * *

**A duo's return**

What a sweet dream that was. He groggily looked over to see that Rachel's bed was empty.

"Now she's getting up early to skip work, wonderful," Henry groaned as he got out of bed and dressed in his work clothes. When he went outside he was surprised to see that some of the plants had been watered. "Well at least she did something," Henry muttered as he watered the rest and picked the turnips. Half would be sold as so and the other Rachel would cook, it brought in more money and tasted delicious! "Yummy left over turnip salad," Henry thought licking his lips. Rachel might of been hard headed, lazy, stubborn, clumsy, inexperienced, sneaky, short tempered, and well Rachel, but she was one hell of a cook! "Though I wonder where she went?" Henry muttered out loud. He hated to admit it but, he was a bit worried about her. Could something bad happen to her? After Henry had watered and harvested ripe crops he was ready to set off and find Rachel, until she appeared behind and slugged him on the shoulder. Found her.

"Rachel! What the hell! What was that for?!" Henry shouted at her, angry and confused.

"Why didn't you tell me about the stalker next door?" she accused him.

"What? Wait do you mean Issy?" he asked.

"Yes that's what I said!" Rachel screamed in return.

"Was it really necessary to punch me?" Henry asked, annoyed.

"Yes! Now tell me why you didn't tell me about that one?" she shouted, pointing in the direction of Issy's island. "And why does she live on a floating farm?"

"Well first, she comes by everyday, so I assumed you met her. Secondly, that island has belonged to her family for decades, her parents were farmers who lost their land so built a farm on the island. Satisfied?" Henry informed her.

"No!" Rachel grumbled, how come he hadn't told her this before.  
"Look I'm sorry, Issy likes walking around and I'd thought you two would of met by now. Listen, she's quite... sassy is the best word. But, she's nice if you're on her good side. On her bad side though..." Henry shuddered remembering what Issy could do when angered. "Well, I get the impression you two got off on the wrong foot, so please make peace with her. She's a good neighbor when happy. Here." Henry handed Rachel a Magic Blue flower. "Just give this to her as an apology, she loves flowers." Rachel growled at this, and despite the situation, Henry laughed. "Ya know, you two are kind of similar, maybe you will get along." Rachel snarled at him and stomped into the house to complete her cooking. 'At least I'll have that.' Henry thought.

"You're not getting any of my food!" Rachel screeched. Damn! He had been looking forward to it.

Henry decided to go to his grandfather's for breakfast. He started on his way and was almost trampled by a cow. Why.

"Woah! Moola calm down!" a male voice said.

"Neil?" Henry questioned.

"Hey Henry. Aaron and I are back in town," Neil said, gesturing to the smaller boy behind him.

"What's with the cow?" Henry asked.

"Uh, this is our family's cow, Moola. Our parents couldn't keep it because they were going to travel. I don't want to sell her. I grew up with her after all. So I thought I'd give it to someone I could trust. Here," Neil said blandly.

"Um, thank you Neil," Henry said, a bit cautiously.

"Take good care of her," the younger boy piped up.

"I will Aaron. And I'm surprised to see you here. Did you get tired of your parents?" Henry teased.

"Aaron doesn't like going over seas. He gets sick on boats," Neil informed, while Aaron looked down shyly. Henry realized the great resemblance between the two. Aside from Aaron's more formal choice of clothing, the two looked almost the same. Aaron was just a bit shorter and wore his hair down. How come he hadn't realized this before? Well it's probably because last time he saw Aaron was three years ago.

"Aaron's is going to be staying with me for now. Do you think you could make him a bed?" Neil asked Henry.

"Yeah, no problem. Hey, I know someone who could do it instead, actually," Henry smiled, turning back towards the house.

Meanwhile, Rachel had finally finished with her cooking and was heading outside to go ship her turnip salads. Along the way to Emma's she spotted two blonde haired and red eyes boys talking with Henry. One wearing a red jacket, black undershirt, black camo jeans and boots. The other dressed in black skinny jeans, a white collared un-tucked short sleeve shirt and a dark purple sweater vest with white argyle and black moccasins.

"Hey Rachel! Hey I need you build these guys a bed," Henry called out.

"What's in it for me?" Rachel demanded as she dropped off the food into the bin.

"A free cow," Henry responded motioning to Moola.

"Aww look at her!" Rachel cooed as she ran over to the cow. "Well isn't she the most precious of things!" Rachel hugged the cow in all of her delight, it was quite a sight honestly.

"She at least seems to like animals," Neil muttered.

"So who are these two?" Rachel asked.

"Agh these are Neil and his younger brother, Aaron," Henry introduced. "Neil sells animals and Aaron...what are you doing?"

"I'll most likely work at Hana's, she was always kind," Aaron quietly answered.

"And who are you?" Neil asked out coldly.

"I'm Rachel, my father owned the farmland so now I'm taking care of it," Rachel answered happily, to only receive a glare from Henry. "With Henry's help," she added unhappily.

"Okay, so Grumpy-face and Shy Guy, got it," Rachel stated looking at the brothers, making Neil glare in rage and Aaron look down and dig at the dirt with the toe of his shoe.

"Sorry about her," Henry apologized. "She's a bit... Well she calls things as she sees them. Don't take offense."

"Yeah, well here's a milker and a brush," Neil said, facing Henry. "Milk and brush her everyday and she'll grow to like you more and make better milk."

"Thank you," Rachel said grabbing the two tools and going back to the cow. "We're gonna be good friends!" she stated as she started to brush the cow.

"Sorry about her," Henry apologized for the second time.

Neil breathed heavily. "Lastly, if she ever gets sick, give her this," he handed Henry a bottle of blue liquid labeled "animal medicine." "It works practically overnight so just one bottle should do the trick."

"Thanks," Henry said taking the bottle from Neil and slipping it into his rucksack.

"Well I'll be off then. If you need any advice just find me," Neil finished as he walked off, leaving Aaron behind.

"Hmm what should I name you?" Rachel muttered out loud as she finished brushing.

"Her name is Moola, but if you want to change it you can..." Aaron mumbled looking at his moccasins.

"Hmm I'll call you Bessie!" Rachel declared happily.

"Don't I get a say in the name?" Henry asked a bit upset.

"Now, she is my cow. I name her," Rachel teased as she stuck her tongue out in mockery.

"Why you lit-"

"Come on let's bring you home. Oh Shy Guy, you come along so I can give you the bed," Rachel interrupted as she began to lead the cow back home.

"O-ok!" Aaron stuttered as he, Henry, Rahcel, and Bessie began to walk back to the barn.

Once Bessie was put in the pasture Rachel went straight to work on building the bed.  
"Oh I ugh wanted to give you these," Aaron lifted a packet of seeds from his pocket and handed them to Henry. "Fodder can be expensive, so these can be used instead."

"Wow, thanks Aaron!" Henry greeted as he gave him a pat on the back. "You always were a good friend."

"T-th-thanks." Aaron stuttered out flustered.

"TADA!" Rachel screamed, making Henry flinch and Aaron literally jump out of his shoes. "Your bed is finished Shy Guy!" Rachel beamed as Aaron shoved his feet back into his moccasins.

"Th-thank you," he replied looking at the bed she had made, complete with a mattress and a design etched on the headboard.

"Have fun with that now! Tell Grumpy-face that he needs to loosen up a bit will ya?" Rachel said walking back to the house.

"She's not going to help me bring this home?" Aaron asked, worried.

"That's Rachel for you. Don't worry I'll help," Henry said, picking up the headboard. The two of them strenuously made their way back to Neil's house.

Rachel stopped at the mailbox and peeked in, expecting a letter from her cousin but only seeing a newspaper with the weather report. "Tara, oh Tara," she sang, "oh where are you Tara?" She then turned around and skipped off to the river area to check out those weird tree stumps she had seen and pick up some mint for her cooking.

* * *

**Evening**

After the days foraging and work had been done, Rachel returned to the farm to see Issy heading back to her island.

"Hey Issy!" Rachel called out as she ran off to meet the girl.

"Yes?" Issy stopped as she waited for the blonde to catch up with her.

"I just wanted to apologize for this morning. I didn't mean for us to get off on the wrong foot, sooo here," Rachel handed over the Magic Blue flower.

"Henry's idea?" Issy asked.

"Yeah," Rachel replied with a chuckle. "But I really do mean the apology."

"Hmm ok I accept, and hey how about you come over for dinner," Issy declared. "I heard you were a good chef, and we can trick Henry into doing the farm work."

"I'm thinking, I like the way you work Issy," Rachel laughed as the two girls headed off to fetch Henry for the dinner plans.

* * *

**YO IT IS KT! Megan forgot her author's not so I guess this one is up to me! Um yah new people and shit! Excitement! Um yay! Also lets get some OCs up in here!**

_**Ok got this up in record time *sarcastic* anyways, for the next week I again will not be able to get on as much because of actually finals and regions. So I apologize, and hope you understand. Also DOES ANYONE WANT SOSEKI! ANYONE!? Does anyone know a Soseki fangirl? or guy? Also edited this in!**_

**Available: Soseki**

**REMEMBER OCxOC IS WELCOME,**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer. we no own**

* * *

Rachel was finally able to have a good nights rest. Her mind felt like it was completely at ease. That night she and Issy were successfully able to trick Henry into doing the farm work, and despite doing the kitchen labor Rachel had to admit, she was beginning to warm up to Issy. Not to mention Bessie was simply adorable and a complete joy for Rachel, despite it being hard work to take care of a cow. Though there was one thing bugging her, how come her cousin hadn't wrote her back yet? The too had been fairly close, despite some arguments. Drifting deep into her dreams, Rachel felt something beginning to shake her.  
"Henry, five more minutes." She groaned between reality and unconscious. The shaking still continued, causing Rachel to finally wake up. "Dammit Henry!" She growled  
"My name isn't Henry." A girl with brown blonde hair in a pony tail, dark green eyes, and beige colored skin replied. Tara had arrived.  
"TARA!" Rachel shrieked.  
"Rachel!" Tara replied.  
"Ugggh..." Henry groaned.  
The two girls hugged and started chatting away, catching up on absolutely everything under the sun.  
Henry groaned and shoved his head under the pillow.  
The hell was this? Henry kept shoving his head deeper into his pillow, trying to block the unbearable noise of girl chatter. It didn't come to him that he lived with one female. So after a few failed attempts of trying to stay asleep, Henry finally picked up his head and shot a glare at Rachel, ignoring Tara's presence.  
"Would you keep it down." Henry hissed.  
"Oh come on Henry don't be rude, my cousins here!" Rachel introduced with a smile as Tara gave Henry a wave.  
Henry blinked, eyes wide open. How had he not realized someone else was here? "Um...hi," Henry said nervously. "Sorry for being so rude, I didn't notice you there."  
"How couldn't you notice this babe?" Rachel asked loudly.  
Tara smiled and Henry just sat there. "Sorry," he muttered again, getting up and walking to the kitchen to grab some water to flush out his morning mouth.  
"It's fine." Tara smiled.  
"So, what are you doing here?" Henry asked as he spit out the water.  
"Oh didn't Rachel tell you? I'm here to help you guys out." Tara explained while looking at her cousin. "You never did tell him, did you?"  
"Must of slipped my mind!" Rachel laughed adjusting her hat.  
"Well it's a pleasure to have you, I guess." Henry muttered.  
"Thank you, Henry, is it?" Tara thanked him.  
"Yes. So are you staying in here?" Henry asked.  
"That's the plan for now. I'm thinking of building a small house for myself if some of the farmland gets cleared up," she said.  
Henry thought on that for a second. "Or maybe I could build one and you two could live together," he suggested.  
"Or maybe you could both build houses and I could have this place for myself!" Rachel announced, thrusting her hands into the air.  
"No," the other two said in unison.  
"Why do I even bother?" Rachel grumbled.  
"Well I'm only going to be here till the end of summer, so the house won't e necessary." Tara admitted with a shrug.  
"Not unless I have anything to do with it." Rachel schemed to herself quietly.  
"Rio, did you say something?" Tara questioned gibing her a look.  
"No!' Rachel objected.  
"Rio?" Henry snorted at the nick name.  
"Yes, Tara sometimes calls me Rio. There is nothing wrong with that!" Rachel yelled out slightly flustered at Henry's laughing.  
"All right, well currently we have a few fields, and a cow to take care of." Henry explained.  
"Actually two cows, I brought my cow Molly." Tara admitted with a small nervous laugh.  
"HUUUOOOOOOHHHHH!" Rachel gasped loudly, and ran outside to greet the animal. This time Tara was the one in shock.  
"Shes's an animal person," Henry informed her.  
"I can see that," Tara laughed.  
"So, um, do you want something to eat? Rachel's usually the one who cooks but I can whip us up something quick if you want," Henry offered the girl.  
"Sure, thanks," she replied with a smile.  
After a couple minute in the kitchen, Henry came back with some diced turnips on toast. "It's not much but he–"  
He was cut off when a rampaging farm girl stormed into the house screaming "WHO'S BEEN SCREWING WITH MY KITCHEN?!"  
"Hey I was just making our guest breakfast!" Henry countered defensively.  
"Well why didn't you ask Tara to cook, you know she's pretty good at it. almost as good as me." Rachel bragged as she grabbed one of the slices.  
"Hey I taught you most of what you know!" Tara reminded as she grabbed her own slice and began eating.  
"Yes but now the student surpassed the master." Rachel teased walking over to Henry. "Look there a plenty of good guy chefs out there, you're not one of them." Rachel sighed as she patted Henry on the back.  
"Gee thanks, guess I'll never be cooking for you again." Henry grumbled. After breakfast the trio went off to do the morning work of harvesting, watering, seeding, plowing, milking, and caring. After the time they were done it was near noon.  
"Hey Tara!" Rachel called out wiping some sweat from her brow. "Want to meet the town?"  
"Yeah! Sure!" Tara responded eagerly. Andthen they were off behind Henry's back, leaving him to wonder why he was always the one stuck with the work as he glanced at the pile of turnips and potatoes.  
The two girls first stopped at Hana's, where Rachel enthusiastically introduced her cousin to the old woman, making her smile.  
Next, they stopped at Emma's house, ducking into the doorway before Henry could spot them. Emma was glad to see a new resident, but confused as to why Rachel kept peeking through the curtains during the introduction.  
After making sure Henry was out of sight the two headed towards Neil amd Aaron's house.  
Rachel pounded on the two blonde brother's house, only to have awaken a very pissed off Neil.  
"What do you want?" He hissed, his hair slightly messed up and still in PJs.  
"I just wanted to introduce you and Shy Guy to my cousin, Tara!" Rachel greeted, ignoring Neil's glare.  
"Hi nice to meet you, what's you name?" Tara asked giving him a kind smile.  
"Neil," he replied simply as he looked back over to Rachel, "anything else?"  
"Nope, where's Shy Guy?" Rachel asked trying to peer over him.  
"Out somewhere." Neil answered, and with that he rudely shut the door in the two girls faces.  
"Well he was rude." Tara commented with a scoff.  
"That's Grumpy-face for you," Rachel said casually skipping off toward the river area to find Aaron. "Shy Guy spends a lot of time talking to this pond up the mountain," she informed her cousin. "Something about 'who am I?' or something. I just said something in the same sentence. I'm so dumb, hehe," Rachel laughed.  
"Ummm... Okay then," Tara laughed nervously, following the girl up the mountain path.  
The two passed the slow flowing river taking the path up to the Goddess Spring, and there was Aaron sitting by the ponds edge with a cup of tea by his side. Like his brother, he also seemed to be in his PJ's.  
"Morning Shy Guy!" Rachel called out. Aaron jumped up and seemed extremely distressed.  
"Oh, morning Rachel." He called back not facing towards the cousins. He was trying to cover up his PJ shirt for some reason.  
"So I wanted to introduce you to my cousin, Tara," Rachel explained gesturing to her cousin, "say hi."  
"N-nice to meet you," Aaron greeted, still refusing to face the duo, "I should probably go now-"  
"Oh no, not until you look her in those pretty green eyes of hers and say hi." With this Rachel yanked up the poor boy, revealing the striped rainbow colored flag on his shirt. "Hey Shy Guy."  
"Yeah." Aaron nervously answered.  
"Are you gay?"  
"I-I..." Aaron looked down at his reflection in the pond and took a deep breath. "I am. And I'm proud of it too," then he quickly looked down and blushed.  
He peeked up to see a huge grin spread across Rachel's face. "I HAVE A GAY BEST FRIEND TARA!" she randomly screamed at her cousin.  
"We-we're best friends?" Aaron questioned.  
"Of course we are, Shy Guy!" Rachel confirmed, smiling hugely. "There's no way we could be anything less now."  
"Um, Rachel, maybe you should quiet down a bit," Tara whispered to her cousin. "I think you're scaring him."  
Rachel looked at the boy who blushed and nodded and she let go of him and grinned. "Sorry BFF."  
"It's ok." Aaron replied giving off a sigh of relief. It was unusual for someone to accept, even Neil found him queer with his sexuality. Though what would it be liked having Rachel as his new BFF?  
"So who are you talking too?" Tara asked looking into the pond.  
"They say that the Harvest Goddess sleeps in this pond, I'm not sure if she's real but, it feels nice to just be alone. This place helps me think," Aaron explained as he picked up his accidentally spilled over tea cup, "I really should go now, but it was nice meeting you."  
Aaron quicly walked down the mountain path, walking towards the forest area in the other direction the girls had came from. "Henry talks about the Harvest Goddess a lot too," Rachel told her cousin. "I never knew she was supposed to live in this lake, though." She then proceeded to pluck a flower from the ground nearby and let it float gently onto the surface of the pond.  
Suddenly it glittered and disappeared beneath the surface of the water.  
"Dum da da daaaa!"  
The small glitter of light exploded into something much bigger, and when it faded a figure radiating with beauty stood in front of them, sporting green hair and eyes and flawless white skin.  
"Thank you for the gift! I like this," she said, holding the flower daintily in her fingers. "Oh! I havn't seen you before," the woman said, looking at Tara. "Are you an acquaintance of Rachel? Her cousin I presume," she said smiling.  
"Hey, how do you know my name?!" Rachel accused.  
"Well same as how you knew my name, Henry told me," she smiled at the girl.  
Rachel's jaw dropped. "Oh when I see that boy I'm gonna—"  
"Now, now that won't be necessary Rachel," the lady reassured her.  
"And who are you to tell me that?" Rachel asked in anger.  
"The Harvest Goddess of course! I thought you knew!" Her eyes sparkled as Rachel's jaw hit the floor once again, causing her to fall into the pond in her moment of shock.  
Rachel woke up to voices next to her head. Her eyes opened and she came face to face with two green-haired children. At least, she thought they were children. They seemed a bit small and...well really out of proportion.  
"Oh! She's awake!" one of the two, who was decked out in a red hat and jacket, shouted in a pipsqueak voice.  
"Oh, so she is," the other, dressed in matching garb but in purple, said nonchalantly.  
"Um, Tara?" Rachel questioned.  
"Yes?"  
"Who are these rainbow midgets?"  
"Hey! We are not midgets!" shouted the purple midget as the red one tried to calm her down.  
"Rachel, don't offend them," her cousin pleaded.  
"Well can you tell me who 'them' is?" she remarked with a snarky tone.  
"This is Aaron and Alice, the Harvest Sprites," Tara said, pointing to the two midgets as she named them. "They aren't midgets, they're sprites."  
"Haha you're like Shy Guy Jr!" Rachel laughed pointing and the male sprite. "And you're and itty-bitty ball of fury," she laughed even harder looking at the female.  
"Oh you're gonna regret that!" Alice sneered, rolling up her itty-bitty sleeves and balling up her itty-bitty fists. It only made Rachel laugh harder when Aaron tried to hold his sister back by flopping on the ground and grabbing onto her ankles.  
By this point Rachel had tears in her eyes when the Goddess herself appeared again. "What's going on here?" she questioned Tara.  
"To tell you the truth, I don't even know," Tara replied, still pretty dumbfounded by the scene in front of her.  
"Aaron, Alice, what are you doing?" the Goddess questioned her little helpers.  
"This punk called me an angry midget!" Alice shouted , pointing an accusing itty-bitty finger at the giggling girl.  
"Now sis it wasn't that bad," Aaron tried to reassure his sister.  
"How about we put that aside and explain things to her instead of fighting her," the Goddess offered.  
"Yes!" Aaron squeaked as his sister grumbled unhappily about being a midget.  
"Hmph fine." Alice grumbled as she gave her fingers a snap, and then they were by the river.  
"Oh woah!" Rachel exclaimed looking around their new settings.  
"How'd you do that?" Tara asked in complete wonder.  
"An ability all Harvest Sprites have." Aaron explained cheerfully.  
"Well because the Harvest Goddess ordered us to do this, I guess Aaron and I will explain the Music Stumps." Alice continued getting everyone's attention. "It's simple, Aaron and I are going to give you a music sheet, and someone has to play it on the stumps."  
"In order to get the music to come out a hammer is required." Aaron added in grinning. "Yes, now here's the first one!"  
"Wait," Alive interrupted, smirking deviously, "I have an idea. How about I hide all the music sheets and my brother and I give you hints to find them. It'll be like a game."  
"Alice..." Aaron sighed, she was usually like this.  
"Hey no fair!" Rachel argued.  
"Well this is what you get for calling them midgets." Tara muttered with a sigh.  
"True, you probably couldn't find them anyways." Alice added in.  
"Oh yeah! Is that a challenge? That's it give me that hint!" Rachel demanded, causing Alice to smirk. She had won.  
"Ok the first sheet is in the Mayors house," Alice hinted, "good luck!" She called after as Rachel stomped off dragging her cousin behind her.  
Rachel ran off in the direction of the town grumbling something about a stupid midget, and continuously stubbing her toes on stray rocks and branches making her grumble something about stupid nature.  
"Sorry about her," Tara apologized to the sprites before jogging after her cousin.  
Once Tara had caught up to the rampaging girl she found her viciously pounding on Dunhill's door.  
"Rachel you should calm down—"  
Tara was cut off by the door opening and Dunhill ducking just in time to miss a knock to the nose by Rachel. The girl then stormed into the house and started running around the small space checking everywhere and everything for the music sheet.  
It was made clear that she had found it when she screamed "AHA!" after ripping the sheets off his bed. She then proceeded to storm out of the house towards the river area shouting something along the lines of "TAKE THIS STUPID MIDGET!" causing Hana to give her an interesting look while watering her flower boxes.  
"Sorry! I'll help you clean up as soon as I calm her down," Tara promised Dunhill after going after he cousin.  
"Here's you dumb music sheet!" Rachel yelled shoving the piece of paper at the purple sprite. "Now gimme that hammer!"  
Rachel grabbed the hammer that had appeared in the air then walked over to the stumps. "Tell me the notes!" she shouted.  
"Uh-um it's DO - RE - MI - FA - SO - LA - TI - DO," he told her as she raised her hammer.  
Rachel slammed the hammer repeatedly on the correct notes, once she hit the final DO note she grinned.  
"I'm done!" She cheered turning to the Harvest Sprites. "So what did I win?"  
"Oh um well Alice and I are going to unblock a rock for a Jump Mushroom in the forest." Aaron explained nervously, Rachel still seemed to be in a rampage due to how hard she hit the stumps.  
"Oh... THAT'S IT! I WENT THROUGH ALL OF THAT HASSLE FOR THAT!" Rachel howled.  
"Yep, but the more sheets you get, the better prizes you get." Alice added in slyly as he brother hid behind her shivering.  
"Oh, well tell me the next hint then!" Rachel nearly begged.  
"Sorry, but the next hint will come later." Alice 'apologized' still giving off her sly smirk.  
"Well fine then," Rachel hmped as she stomped away from the Music Trunks.  
"Umm thanks for...," Tara sheepishly began trying to think of something, "that." She decided that was the best she could come up with, and with that she sped off to catch up to her cousin.  
"I can't believe of all the no good- NO!" Rachel yelped as she patter her bare head. "My hat, where is it?" She frantically began looking around for it. "Do you think it fell off when I fainted into the pond?"  
"Probably, come on let's go." Tara suggested as the two headed back to the Mountain Path.  
Rachel broke int a sprint when she saw a figure by the pond holding her hat. "Who do you think you are!?" she shouted at the girl.  
"My name is Kite,"the girl responded calmly, but wide-eyed.  
Just then another girl walked over to the pond area. "Kite, what's with all the shouting?" she asked the girl, who seemed to be her sister, asked.  
"I honestly don't know Iroha. Do you know this girl?" Kite questioned.  
"No," The other girl, Iroha, answered slightly perplexed, "who are you two?"  
"Oh well I'm Tara," Tara greeted with a smile.  
"I'm Iroha, and this is my sister Kite." Iroha introduced eying Rachel.  
"I'm Rachel, and Tara here is my cousin. And that," Rachel started off walking up to Kite, "is my hat."  
"Oh sorry, I found this by the pound. Here." Kite handed over the hat which Rachel happily put back on the one place it belonged, her blonde head.  
"Thank you Kite." She happily began adjusting her cowgirl hat.  
"Oh it's no problem." Kite replied happily.  
"Just a quick question, but is this Echo Village?" Iroha asked.  
"Why yes it is!" Rachel answered  
"I told you I knew the place," Kite beamed, looking at her sister.  
"Thank you," Iroha bowed. "I've come here to find mining material and work on my smithing,"she informed the cousins. Kite just nodded.  
"Well I run a farm here with my cousin and my assistant Henry!" Rachel beamed.  
"Um I think he's more like your partner Rachel," Tara said t her cousin.  
"Same difference," Rachel retorted. "Well it was nice to meet you two but I have a farm boy to go pummel," Rachel finished and started a quick jog down the mountain path.  
"It was very nice to met you. I should probably go prevent that from happening though," Tara finished and started after her cousin.  
Back at the farm, Rachel had Henry in a headlock yelling at him about the Goddess. "HOW COULD YOU NOT MENTION THAT? IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S VERY FORGETTABLE. GEEZ HENRY WHY ARE YOU SO HARD TO DEAL WITH?"  
At this point Henry had given up on trying to explain himself as the girl wouldn't listen. It wasn't until Tara pulled Rachel's cowbell out of the girl's bag and rang it in her ear did this scenario stop.  
"Owwwwww," Rachel whined, holding her hand over her ear.  
"You need to calm down, Rache. I'm sure Henry has a good explanation for this all," Tara said calmly.  
"WHAT?" Rachel yelled.  
Tara pointed to Henry and said "LISTEN."  
Rachel scowled and turned her attention to the boy. "I wanted you to meet her on your own like I did," Henry started.  
"YOU FELL INTO THE POND TOO?" Rachel asked, still quite deafened.  
"Well, no, but it wouldn't have been the same if I just told you she was there. You see now why I didn't tell you?" the boy finished.  
Rachel pouted and sulked her shoulders a bit. "I guess so," she muttered reluctantly.  
Henry smiled before Rachel's eyes brightened and she said, "new people! Come on!" and grabbed Henry's wrist and started dragging the boy towards the town.  
When they arrived the two sisters were talking to Dunhill in front of the empty house in town. Tara followed them close behind. Rachel thrust Henry at the two girls. "Introduce yourself boy!" she yelled.  
"Oh, I'm Henry," the "boy" replied awkwardly.  
"I'm Iroha," the elder sister said, "and this is my sister Kite." Kite smiled and quietly greeted Henry.  
"Um, I'm sorry for this awkward meeting, but it was good to meet new faces in our village," Henry replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "I hope you enjoy living here."  
The three farmers walked away but Iroha's excited voice could be heard exclaiming "a forge! This place has a forge!" The three smiled in unison and walked to their shared home, for once at peace.  
"AH SHIT I STUBBED MY TOE!"  
Never mind.

* * *

**OKAY HI ITS KATIE. MEGAN IS AWAY SO ITS UP TO ME TO POST THIS. K ENJOY. ALSO ALL CRUSHES HAVE BEEN TAKEN. OCXOC IS WELCOME**.


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